Page 42 of Help Wanted

Chapter 8

Zane hadn’t been sure he was going to give her his stupid gift, but he had to do something quickly. She’d been staring at his lips as if she wanted to lick the glaze off him. And he wanted her to. He wanted to throw her over her desk and lick her as well.

His jeans fit uncomfortably as he waited for her to take the box. He was getting used to it by now. It had become a near-constant situation when he was around her.

“It’s to say thank you,” he explained, feeling stupid.

“Really?” Her voice squeaked as she took the box and opened it. “Oh wow!”

He loved her reaction to his gift. She didn’t seem to think it was creepy. She appeared genuinely pleased.

“This is so nice. It’s beautiful.” She was still smiling. “You didn’t have to do this. I was just doing my job.”

“See, I thought about that, but you do more than your job. You act like this is your company, too, and you treat every decision as if it directly affects you. That isn’t your job, but I really appreciate it.”

“You’re welcome. My dad says I have loyalitis: an inflammation of loyalty.” She laughed and shook her head. “This is really beautiful.”

She looked down at the necklace again. The charm he’d seen at the hotel gift shop was a knot pattern. He didn’t have a large selection to choose from once anything romantic was taken out of the mix, but when he saw the knot he thought it was perfect. It symbolized the way she kept all the loose ends tied up.

He smiled as she freed the necklace from the box and put it on. Seeing his gift settle against her collarbone made his heart twitch, and maybe some of his other parts as well. But that was getting easier to ignore.

* * *

His relationship with Kenley shifted significantly over the next few days. While they never mentioned the kiss, or moved to make it happen again, he could feel the tension growing. They flirted. Casual, friendly flirting. Nothing overtly sexual or inappropriate, just fun. But occasionally he saw her staring at him as if she wanted to take his clothes off. And the few times when she stared at his mouth while licking her lips was almost enough to ruin him and their tentative friendship.

He liked her.

He’d though she was beautiful from the moment he met her. It was the reason he’d tried to keep his distance. He remembered how he’d acted around Courtney. Like a junkie, eager for any bit of attention she would turn his way. But this was different. He knew Kenley as a person. He knew her heart and her mind. And every new thing he learned just made her more perfect.

She was also a kick-ass assistant. He would be lost without her. Everything ran smoothly and his entire workforce was less stressed. As much as he appreciated Sidney and everything she’d done to get his business started, he realized how much tension there used to be, now that it was gone. The constant bickering and struggle for power had worn everyone down. Including them.

One of his happier employees walked in and sat at the bar on Tuesday night.

“So you’re still taking her away on your boat?” Paul asked with a smirk.

“Yes.” Zane hesitated for a second, debating whether or not to talk to them about his issues. Josh was obviously waiting for an explanation. What the hell, why not tell them?

“I’m taking the new girl to a boat show. A work thing.”

“Ah. The new girl,” Josh said with a knowing smile. Zane glanced over at Paul, who was making an effort not to laugh.

“Asshole.”

“What?” Paul said, knowing exactly what.

“The ocean is magical. Be prepared,” Josh warned as he took a sip of his beer.

“I can’t be fooling around with my employees.” He frowned. “Right?” he added when neither of them responded.

“Bree helps me with my business. It’s nice being able to share everything, and for her to understand what I do for a living,” Josh said.

“But you were married before you started your business. Kenley is my employee. What if something goes wrong? It could ruin everything.”

“What if it doesn’t go wrong? It could be great.” Josh was not helping.

“I think she’s into you,” Paul said. “Go for it.”

“You’re supposed to talk me out of doing something stupid,” he scolded them.